Which Kameo pairs with Baraka the Best?

[BecomingDeath13]

I'm just curious what everyone's opinions are about this. I'm still messing around with all the kameos and Baraka but I'm not sure, personally who I think works best.

 

[Plop]

I've been using Cyrax. The upwards helicopter assist can help you rack damage up to like 50% and you can convert off a throw for like 22%.. The horizontal helicopter is great too if something gets blocked.

 

[Immortal]

Yup, Cyrax is a go to for Baraka, the combo/dmg extentsion are insane. You can convert of anything into 45+.

 

[SaltShaker]

I think it's Cyrax. The combos are self explanatory, but the chip damage setups are also incredibly high.

 

[The Ultimate]

Baraka synergizes pretty well with a few Kameos. In particular, I feel he synergizes the best with Cyrax. Cyrax affords him extended combos mid-screen and corner with the vertical heli-chopper(combo examples: midscreen B&B comboing off db+1 round start-to-corner B&B), but the midscreen combos are very tricky to time properly. Cyrax also grants Baraka safe blockstrings(and also crazy chip!) on his unsafe df+2 special with the horizontal heli-chopper.

The net assist is kinda useless on Baraka, as it doesn't combo from anything, I've found it's just something you throw out from neutral, maybe when you're throwing sparks from range. And, I haven't found a good use for the bomb/self-destruct assist just yet. For Baraka, the heli-chopper assists are perfect enough for him that it's all you need from Cyrax.


Otherwise, I also think he synergizes well with Scorpion. With Scorpion, you get the same combo-extension as Cyrax by using his fire breath assist, only the damage won't be as high. But aside from that, you also get the overhead sword assist which is a combo starter. You could possibly use the OH sword as low/OH strings with b3+forward assist and b1+forward assist, but the assist is kinda reactable and it's unsafe on block. You lose out on the safety/chip that Cyrax grants you by using Scorpion.


He also has a decent synergy with Darrius. Darrius grants Baraka a hard-to-blockable after landing a B&B:

Works both midscreen and corner, but easier to land in the corner. My timing was probably not optimal for a hard-to-blockable, but you get the idea. You can also hold the Darrius assist to delay the OH if they delay wakeup. While this is definitely dirty, I feel like if you choose Darrius, you're putting all your eggs into one basket. Darrius doesn't really have anything else that benefits Baraka. You don't get the combo extensions with Cyrax & Scorpion and you don't get the safety/chip from Cyrax.


Lastly, Baraka seems to synergize well with Jax with his unblockable assist:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1702471697020936413

Baraka can also extend combos with the backbreaker assist, though I don't have any videos showing it. I will say that I think Jax's extensions aren't as good as Cyrax's or Scorpion's. With Jax, you get the UB setups, combo extension and also a wakeup reversal with the energy wave(with a super fast recharge, by the way).

 

[The Ultimate]

Double post, but I was messing with Kung Lao kameo, and he seems to have some sauce with Baraka.

One thing I didn't know about his low hat assist, is that you can hold it in place for a couple of seconds before releasing it. This can lead to some hard-to-blockables, like this:

The reward isn't super high, but a landing this sequence takes a little over half life, and the low hat assist has a VERY fast recharge speed(six whole seconds to fill up from empty!), and the low hat itself gives you plus frames on blockstrings, I think at least +1 on any blockstring. Plus, just holding the low hat on the opponent's wakeup might make them want to use an armored reversal, so rather than go for the hard-to-blockable, you can just lay the hat down and bait a wakeup reversal.

Otherwise, KL also grants Baraka a meterless combo extender with spin assist, and it combos off of all Baraka's fastest starters, granting around a 30% combo, depending on the starter. Plus, spin doubles as an invincible wakeup reversal.

There's also the teleport, but that's a move that I haven't quite found a use for. The teleport isn't nearly as fast as I thought, it's extremely reactable, and while it's an ambush, it doesn't really grant Baraka safety when he overextends, not like Cyrax assist.

 

[xSKULLCRUSHERx69]

Cyrax is good but sometimes it feels like his recharge rate is so slow. Nobody here has mentioned sareena yet. She doesn’t have the damage you get with cyrax, but she has ez confirms on Baraka’s 21 into her back kameo double boomerang move. You can even read a back 1 and hit them with the double boomerang and start a combo. It’s kind of ez mode combos and I picked it up quick. Plus the recharge on that move is almost fast enough that in one combo it recharges all the way. Sometimes I don’t mind going 21 back kameo into 21 back kameo into my combo because I can guarantee that half the bar will be up for use after the combo.

Another benefit is that you don’t have to use a bar at the beginning of the combo for big damage. The combo I’m thinking of is 21 df2ex, b31, 21 df2. For cyrax you need to do that first then at the end you can use his kameo. For sareena you go 21 b kameo, 21 df2ex, b31, 21 df2. You can do 21 b kameo twice with sareena. Which is nice to not burn the bar right away. Also it’s easier to combo into your X-ray this way instead of using df2 you would X-ray

 

[The Ultimate]

(deleted video as the blockstring isn't true. Going to try and make another video showing the blockstring with proper counter information)

 

[LEGEND]

So here are my current thoughts on kameos for Baraka:

- Kano/Stryker:
Great for making D1->DF2 Safe, which opens up more opportunities to press buttons. If your opponent is looking out for the DF2 link, then they aren't counter poking anymore. Really strong.

Both also make things like BF3 and (air) DF2 safe-ish which is good to keep people on their toes.

They don't increase his midscreen damage much though, or give him meterless confirms.

Slightly increased ability to zone.

both Stryker and Kano have other small differences and advantages, but this is the big picture for me.



- Cyrax:
Throw Combos are really strong for a character with such good buttons.

You can still make things safe if you need to.

Damage is increased anywhere on screen.

can get real damage off of 4 -> Stab as an AA for things like a Cage jump kick.

Corner Bomb setups are real.

Net is an ok thing to throw out sometimes for trades.



- Sektor:
being able to hit confirm 21 for a meterless combo is nice.

can kinda zone

can make strings into DF2 safe with up rocket

certain punishes can get really high damage with spending bar on EX BF1 looped with up rocket.



- Goro:
Can Make D1-DF2 and random unsafe stuff safe like Kano/Stryker

Can hit confirm 21 meterless as well.

longer recharge time is a bit rough though.

 

[LEGEND]

Like almost everyone else, Lao is his best Kameo rn imo.

The constant safe checks and advantage situations that a blocked or hit Lao hat gives is just perfect for his buttons.

There are hard-to-blockable set ups as well which aren't bad.

Also, B1 (input BK) 2 is a great OS that covers both delayed wakup and standard. Given that waking up against Baraka is extremely risky, having a plus/safe OS to cover getups is very helpful.

 

[1man3letters]

Riddle me this tarkatans.
Going into the new year how you rating baraka kameos.

1.stryker.
Grenades etc etc

2. Khameleon.
I think she does simliar things to the b3 string as stryker tries to do with b3,kameo,1
But with fan and glave they mid so we dont risk a d2 punish if not early grenades.

Fanlift can sort of get baraka safe df2s and blade charges, but much in the way of lao and motaros teles make stuff "safe"

Mileena roll giving baraka a faster overhead great addition aswell.

3. Jax
I might flip on this but at the moment i think jax is better for baraka than cyrax.

100 health.
Very simliar damage as cyrax.
Can combo off throw with same cooldown.
While cyrax has 2 bar throw, jax also has a two bar throw but is unbreakable.

Energy wave nice for meterless corner combos, although is tough to combo.
Ground pound jailing from air spin great round closer aswell.

4. Cyrax
He gives damage and gives throw combos and thats it really, not that those are bad things now dont get me wrong haha

Baraka cant combo into net so just left to shoot random ones for a trade or reversal one hopping to god doesnt get stuffed

The corner bomb setups arent that bad at all to be fair, not great but not shite either but wouldn't be running to the kameo for them

But the extremely high cooldown on horizontal heli makes it getting you 2 df2-heli a match really, dont think the worth-cost is there when you compare to other characters using high cooldown kameo move. The fear in opponent when a full kameo bar on deck still a thing though haha, its when hes half or under extrasuffers for it

Still useable obviously, know thats the most negative of my summaries



5 sub zero/sareena/motaro/kano/goro

Flex pics.
Just fit in handy, nothing special but work.


Your guys thoughts?

 

[Anansi416]

Riddle me this tarkatans.
Going into the new year how you rating baraka kameos.

1.stryker.
Grenades etc etc

2. Khameleon.
I think she does simliar things to the b3 string as stryker tries to do with b3,kameo,1
But with fan and glave they mid so we dont risk a d2 punish if not early grenades.

Fanlift can sort of get baraka safe df2s and blade charges, but much in the way of lao and motaros teles make stuff "safe"

Mileena roll giving baraka a faster overhead great addition aswell.

3. Jax
I might flip on this but at the moment i think jax is better for baraka than cyrax.

100 health.
Very simliar damage as cyrax.
Can combo off throw with same cooldown.
While cyrax has 2 bar throw, jax also has a two bar throw but is unbreakable.

Energy wave nice for meterless corner combos, although is tough to combo.
Ground pound jailing from air spin great round closer aswell.

4. Cyrax
He gives damage and gives throw combos and thats it really, not that those are bad things now dont get me wrong haha

Baraka cant combo into net so just left to shoot random ones for a trade or reversal one hopping to god doesnt get stuffed

The corner bomb setups arent that bad at all to be fair, not great but not shite either but wouldn't be running to the kameo for them

But the extremely high cooldown on horizontal heli makes it getting you 2 df2-heli a match really, dont think the worth-cost is there when you compare to other characters using high cooldown kameo move. The fear in opponent when a full kameo bar on deck still a thing though haha, its when hes half or under extrasuffers for it

Still useable obviously, know thats the most negative of my summaries



5 sub zero/sareena/motaro/kano/goro

Flex pics.
Just fit in handy, nothing special but work.


Your guys thoughts?

Your game sense is spot on. My top three Kameos for Baraka are Khameleon, Jax and Stryker. Kamikaze style Jax can wear opponents down especially because he has scenarios where he can straight up jail blockstrings into ground pound so he gets over 5% damage and guaranteed death scenarios at low health. The other perk being that the 5% cannot be flawless blocked. Forward 4 energy wave is gapless minus 3 blockstring with good spacing and chip. You can do back 1 into it as well for a spacing option. Amp grab doing between 16-21% depending on bar investment is scary too cause it's like a one button command grab combo's worth of damage.

I agree with what you said about Baraka and I think Khameleon also gives him meterless combos for example 2,1 glaive into two reps of of back 3, 1, 2,1 blade spin ender does the same damage as your 35% mid screen bnb without meter being required. Glow really helps against Geras and other people who have challenging full screen presence. Every version of her grants Baraka additional combo routes with no need for meter which drastically reduces his meter reliance so he is freed up a bit more for breakers and armor generally. Fan toss mid screen combos and the other good thing is if you l start a lot of combos with her you can chain them into her other swaps it just takes a bit of game sense and timing.

You can't go wrong with either of the three but I prefer Jax and Khameleon with Baraka over Stryker. I'd also like to add that he pairs well with a large portion of Kameos. Sub, Sareena, Goro, Kung Lao, Sonya ect all offer him something so he never feels like he is shoehorned into just playing Stryker or one meta Kameo to be effective which is great for new and experienced Baraka players.

 

[1man3letters]

Your game sense is spot on. My top three Kameos for Baraka are Khameleon, Jax and Stryker. Kamikaze style Jax can wear opponents down especially because he has scenarios where he can straight up jail blockstrings into ground pound so he gets over 5% damage and guaranteed death scenarios at low health. The other perk being that the 5% cannot be flawless blocked. Forward 4 energy wave is gapless minus 3 blockstring with good spacing and chip. You can do back 1 into it as well for a spacing option. Amp grab doing between 16-21% depending on bar investment is scary too cause it's like a one button command grab combo's worth of damage.

I agree with what you said about Baraka and I think Khameleon also gives him meterless combos for example 2,1 glaive into two reps of of back 3, 1, 2,1 blade spin ender does the same damage as your 35% mid screen bnb without meter being required. Glow really helps against Geras and other people who have challenging full screen presence. Every version of her grants Baraka additional combo routes with no need for meter which drastically reduces his meter reliance so he is freed up a bit more for breakers and armor generally. Fan toss mid screen combos and the other good thing is if you l start a lot of combos with her you can chain them into her other swaps it just takes a bit of game sense and timing.

You can't go wrong with either of the three but I prefer Jax and Khameleon with Baraka over Stryker. I'd also like to add that he pairs well with a large portion of Kameos. Sub, Sareena, Goro, Kung Lao, Sonya ect all offer him something so he never feels like he is shoehorned into just playing Stryker or one meta Kameo to be effective which is great for new and experienced Baraka players.

Yea love blockstrings/air spin into ground pound stuff, 444-call gp-444,db1 one use most.
Good point on that damage cant be flawless blocked reduced.
theres even a timing where when baraka lifts his foot for the last hit of df2 it makesground pound miss you so take no damage yourself.

With khameleon i REALLY hope they add a circle that drains around the icon of the kameo so you know how long have left if didnt do a manual switch.

With khameleon aswell which kameo route you try go?
Even though kitana gives the fan lift for trying to get away with df2/ex blade charge (chop chop) on block.
Aswell as the tricky to do throw combo with ex air db1

I still try to stay in jade and mileena as much as can, even more so ending combos so i change into mileena on there knockdown frames.

 

[ticklebandit!]

First off I love seeing the Jax appreciation, that's been my go to for awhile now. Secondly a lot of my list is more so a thought experiment, i agree with everything above I just want to be different. Replace the term thought experiment with bullshit if you like lol. I aslo personally don't have a ton of khameleon experience yet and it shows

1. Stryker

He's just the best with Baraka. Him and Baraka should have a buddy cop movie, Eddie Murphy can play Baraka. Stryker gives this character real dirt that he can compete with. The downside is outside of the swaggy high damage (i think his highest damage) corner combos this pairing can be dry as fuck to play. I feel like a little bit of the mk11 dullness leaked into Baraka's creation early on, like NRS was considering phoning it in again. I hope in the future Baraka gets a little bit of a redesign/revamp of his strings and buttons, not insane buffs, just something a bit more so this isn't how he plays at his highest level. Just do a thing, grenades, do another thing.

2. Kano

I am full of shit. Kano is here because I WANT him to be here, not because he deserves it. I have put a lot of time into this but at the end of the day it is not effective as I'd hoped. However he is more than diet stryker, you still get decent damage in the corner and his block string pressure is more intricate. For the opponents who have mastered flawless blocking df2 you can switch up stuff on the fly pretty easily. Calling the back kameo at the earliest b3 db1, 21 db1 all jail (whether the opponent is crouch blocking or not) and leave you more plus than nades. You also have slightly more time to hit confirm or throw knives with EXdf2, so canceling pokes into that is on the table. Speaking of plus frames we are very plus after knives, which is where this all falls apart. We are so plus we have time to have a little mini existential life crises cause wtf is this character gonna do with plus frames, we have no mix! When timed correctly you can jail into another s2 but like...good for you??? lol. Either continue your chip damage for like 15% total or do an 11% throw and patiently wait for your s+ opponent to smack you for 45% when they get up. And the worst part about this pairing which hurts my heart to say, just play raiden/kano, johnny/kano, etc.

3. Jax

I think Jax is all around the complete package for Baraka. We get our big damage, we can combo off throw, and we have juicy chip damage. Ending a combo in EXdb1 and then doing like a 20% chip sequence ftw is like sex in slow motion. Only downside is we are still a bit too honest for the s+ tier muppets. We trade safety for our damage and vs patient players it shows. On the plus side, drunkenly miss timing Jax resests (which aren't that good) only for jax to awkwardly hop across the screen to pop us out of our opponent's game winning combo is hilarious. Jax has our backs, LITERALLY. Oh and you can put Cyrax here as well because he's still good with Baraka, but I also think Jax is slightly better.

4. Scorpion

Khameleon should be here, I dunno what I'm doing. Scorpion is cool because we can get huge damage off of every touch. Even mid screen you can get 37% off the overhead for one bar two kameo. The Scorpion overhead helps open people up. If you don't wanna be in the gang bang sandwich with Kenshi and his spirit grandpa you can just say "no" and scorpion will pull you out of there. Only problem of course with this pairing is it's honest as fuck. it's like traversing through a shitty sewer in a tuxedo. You get no block pressure and the throw combo is so insanely hard I've never actually got it and it might as well not be there.

5. Motaro

This kameo doesn't really give us anything but I've used it with success in the Reiko MU. You can throw the ninja stars back at him and depending on distance get a bf3 or full combo in. Its just nice to remind these fuckers they're not the footsie gods they think they are. Or maybe, they're not the footsie gods I THINK they think they are haha

6. Kung Lao, Sareena

Solid picks, I would fault no one for choosing them.